Week 2: Finding forms

Form finding and designing a collection

This week we introduced the new cohort to how our employed makers work, explored some more somatic grounding techniques and nature connection meditation, as well as form-finding around Ally Pally park. This week the cohort was joined by Alice Moxley, Pivot’s CEO and founder.

Meeting the Pivot Makers

The new cohort met our team of makers and were introduced to the Pivot way of making jewellery! They were given the opportunity to ask questions and try their hand at working with brass for the first time. Nas and Shareef, the newest employed Makers gave the cohort the lowdown on what it's like to work as a Pivot Maker, and got a peek into the world of their craftsmanship.

Grounded Together

We rode the bus to Ally Pally park, where we jumped off and had a stop off to do some grounding together.

We found a log to sit on, did a round of names and went round the group (Facilitators included!) with one-word answers on how we were feeling. Then, we dived into grounding exercises using breathing techniques and body awareness. The transformation was incredible; everyone's one-word descriptors shifted as we became more connected with our bodies and the natural environment around us.

Form-Finding and brainstorming

As part of our design-process to figure out the jewellery collection design, we go for a walk where we encounter both nature and the urban environment. We walked around Ally Pally park taking photos of leaves, bridges, shadows, parts of windows… you get the idea!

As a guiding tool we had worksheets to fill in - what’s our favourite thing about our local area? About London? What shapes have inspired us today?

We hopped back on the bus, had a lunch break, and on our return to the session, had a productive 45-minute brainstorming session using post-it notes and a shared big piece of paper to jot down our ideas of what we’d explored that afternoon.

We managed to make some time at the end to discuss some employment support that the participants felt they needed moving forward - a session we’ll be sharing with you in a few weeks time!

A Closing Breath

As our session came to a close, we wrapped up with a check-out that included a deep breathing exercise. Everyone shared a one-word answer on how they felt at the end of the session and we drew the session to a close.